My education began when I was around three years old. Before entering into elementary school, my parents sent me to pre-school. They believed that it would help me get used to being with other people during the day rather than my family, and that meeting kids my age and getting a simulated “school” setting, I would be better equipped to handle elementary and secondary schools. I remember showing up to pre-school on that first day, and having no idea what was going on. I walked up to this foreign building with a jungle gym outside and read a sign that said “Teddy Bears Childcare”. I thought I was there to play on the jungle gym with my parents, but I was mistaken. I walked into the building with other kids that appeared to be the same age as me, and just started introducing myself. Some people didn’t want to be my friend, but I found a few people there who did, and to this day, we continue to have a friendship. After that first awkward day, I loved going to pre-school. I loved playing around with the other kids, learning things about people that I’d never known, and reading and coloring and learning and just expressing myself like I never had before. I remember my preschool experience as being a great time in my life, and it taught me a lot.
My preschool experience definitely had an influence on my education, specifically the approach I took to getting an education. I truly believe that if I had never gone to preschool at that age, my educational experience would be drastically different. It was a great introduction to learning in a classmate setting, something I had obviously never been exposed to before. Also, it was a good starting time for me to learn to interact with other people my age and to not be afraid to make friends and be without my family. I was quite young when I started getting an education, but I definitely don’t regret my introduction to the educational experience via preschool.
After preschool, when I was around five years old, came the real introduction to education: elementary school. Walking into that school for the first time was a lot different than my first day of preschool. In preschool, there’s about twenty kids my exact age in the class and that’s it, but that surely wasn’t the case with elementary school. I went to a fairly big school in New York, around 150-175 kids per grade, and the school was kindergarten through fifth grade. There were so many new people I had never seen before, but a lot of them seemed to know each other. Although I had experience in schooling, I was quite intimidated by the thought of completely starting over in school. I found the learning a bit of a challenge, granted I was five, and was scared of elementary school at first. Although it was frightening, I really enjoyed it. The teachers that I was fortunate enough to have were amazing; they taught their subjects so well, and I surely give them credit with being able to teach young children. Overall, I had a wonderful elementary school experience.
Reflecting on my preschool and elementary schools, they both influenced the rest of my education heavily. These times in my life are meant to set the stage for the rest of my education, and I feel that they both did that well. Preschool gave me an insight of what schooling is like; learning new things and interacting with other people my age. Elementary school allowed me to put some of the skills that I had learned in preschool to the test. In conclusion, I think that my early school settings and experiences were a powerful and positive influence on my education thus far.
EDC 102H
09/18/2010
Early Education
My education began when I was around three years old. Before entering into elementary school, my parents sent me to pre-school. They believed that it would help me get used to being with other people during the day rather than my family, and that meeting kids my age and getting a simulated “school” setting, I would be better equipped to handle elementary and secondary schools. I remember showing up to pre-school on that first day, and having no idea what was going on. I walked up to this foreign building with a jungle gym outside and read a sign that said “Teddy Bears Childcare”. I thought I was there to play on the jungle gym with my parents, but I was mistaken. I walked into the building with other kids that appeared to be the same age as me, and just started introducing myself. Some people didn’t want to be my friend, but I found a few people there who did, and to this day, we continue to have a friendship. After that first awkward day, I loved going to pre-school. I loved playing around with the other kids, learning things about people that I’d never known, and reading and coloring and learning and just expressing myself like I never had before. I remember my preschool experience as being a great time in my life, and it taught me a lot.
My preschool experience definitely had an influence on my education, specifically the approach I took to getting an education. I truly believe that if I had never gone to preschool at that age, my educational experience would be drastically different. It was a great introduction to learning in a classmate setting, something I had obviously never been exposed to before. Also, it was a good starting time for me to learn to interact with other people my age and to not be afraid to make friends and be without my family. I was quite young when I started getting an education, but I definitely don’t regret my introduction to the educational experience via preschool.
After preschool, when I was around five years old, came the real introduction to education: elementary school. Walking into that school for the first time was a lot different than my first day of preschool. In preschool, there’s about twenty kids my exact age in the class and that’s it, but that surely wasn’t the case with elementary school. I went to a fairly big school in New York, around 150-175 kids per grade, and the school was kindergarten through fifth grade. There were so many new people I had never seen before, but a lot of them seemed to know each other. Although I had experience in schooling, I was quite intimidated by the thought of completely starting over in school. I found the learning a bit of a challenge, granted I was five, and was scared of elementary school at first. Although it was frightening, I really enjoyed it. The teachers that I was fortunate enough to have were amazing; they taught their subjects so well, and I surely give them credit with being able to teach young children. Overall, I had a wonderful elementary school experience.
Reflecting on my preschool and elementary schools, they both influenced the rest of my education heavily. These times in my life are meant to set the stage for the rest of my education, and I feel that they both did that well. Preschool gave me an insight of what schooling is like; learning new things and interacting with other people my age. Elementary school allowed me to put some of the skills that I had learned in preschool to the test. In conclusion, I think that my early school settings and experiences were a powerful and positive influence on my education thus far.